The Archimedes was Acorns' first general purpose home computer to be based on their own ARM architecture featuring RISC design with a 32-bit CPU running at the incredible for its time 4 MIPS CPU speed! The info inlcuded here are based on the A3000, 3010, A3020 and A4000/5000 models.The Archimedes was one of the most powerful home computers available during the late 1980s as its CPU was faster than the MC68000 microprocessors found in the more popular Commodore Amiga and Atari ST machines (and Mac). An 8 MHz 68000 had an average performance of roughly 1 MIPS for 16-bit workloads and 0.5 MIPS for 32-bit workloads, with peak performance of 2 MIPS for simpler 16-bit instructions. The 8 MHz ARM2 yielded 4.5 - 4.8 MIPS for 32-bit workloads in repeatable benchmark tests! In graphics although the Archimedes series outperformed the Amiga series easily for 3D applications, the Amiga retained an edge in 2D due to Amiga's powerfull custom chips!